Separating BES emails from the rest on your BlackBerry
2008.10.22 09:29 PM Filed in: Technology
It is true, I love my MTS BlackBerry Curve 8330 very much. I'm not sure if it's something I would have originally paid for on my own, but since I get one free from work it allowed me to try it out and incorporate it into my life. Now I'm completely hooked and if I left MTS tomorrow, I'd have to go out and buy one for myself. Which is really high praise since I really love the iPhone and want one of those too, but I think I love the BlackBerry just a little bit more. 
Anyway, the BlackBerry line of smartphones is most closely associated with email - and rightly so since it handles email very well... except in one area. I find it rather annoying that BES messages (BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which is generally corporate or work email) get lumped together under the Messages icon with all the other BIS (BlackBerry Internet Server, which is generally personal email) accounts, SMS messages, PIN messages, Google Talk messages if you have that installed, etc. Most of those have a place you can go to see only those messages. For example, every BIS account you set up gets its own message area icon so you can click it to see only messages from that account. It's not even like all BIS accounts get lumped together - they're all separate. BlackBerry Messenger (the built-in BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry IM client) has its own icon too to view only those messages. Same thing with Google Talk. But they all also end up in the default Messages area. Which wouldn't be a problem if you want to see your recent messages at a glance regardless of where they came from. That's fine. But why not have a separate place for the BES messages - you know, the ones that are usually corporate/work emails which are typically the most important ones. Why not have a place for only the BES messages without personal messages and IMs scattered throughout? As it turns out, if your BES server is running 4.1.5 or later (I think 4.1.6 is current), there is now a way to enable this very feature globally for all BlackBerry users homed on that server. But it's not easy - it's more of a command line hack into the SQL database - and it's not on by default.
So what if, like me, your BES server doesn't have that enabled? Is there anything you can do? The answer - YES!
There is a commercial product called Empower BES Mailbox that sells for $19.95 USD that does this plus adds a few other features that I don't use. I read more about it to find out exactly how it works, though, and it's basically little more than a search tool. Every time you click the icon, it runs a search in your Messages utility to filter out everything but the BES mail. Well, wait a sec... You can search and filter on the BlackBerry? I didn't know that. Can you do it yourself? I played around with my BlackBerry for a bit and it turns out you can - without bugging your BES administrator and for free!!!
Now, when you go to Messages, press Alt-B (or whatever key you chose) and only the BES messages will be there. If you press the Back button, it will take you to the regular Messages screen with everything jumbled in together, then once more to get back to the main icon screen. Or, you can press the red End key and that will take you right to the main icon screen in one press.
Enjoy!
Anyway, the BlackBerry line of smartphones is most closely associated with email - and rightly so since it handles email very well... except in one area. I find it rather annoying that BES messages (BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which is generally corporate or work email) get lumped together under the Messages icon with all the other BIS (BlackBerry Internet Server, which is generally personal email) accounts, SMS messages, PIN messages, Google Talk messages if you have that installed, etc. Most of those have a place you can go to see only those messages. For example, every BIS account you set up gets its own message area icon so you can click it to see only messages from that account. It's not even like all BIS accounts get lumped together - they're all separate. BlackBerry Messenger (the built-in BlackBerry-to-BlackBerry IM client) has its own icon too to view only those messages. Same thing with Google Talk. But they all also end up in the default Messages area. Which wouldn't be a problem if you want to see your recent messages at a glance regardless of where they came from. That's fine. But why not have a separate place for the BES messages - you know, the ones that are usually corporate/work emails which are typically the most important ones. Why not have a place for only the BES messages without personal messages and IMs scattered throughout? As it turns out, if your BES server is running 4.1.5 or later (I think 4.1.6 is current), there is now a way to enable this very feature globally for all BlackBerry users homed on that server. But it's not easy - it's more of a command line hack into the SQL database - and it's not on by default.
So what if, like me, your BES server doesn't have that enabled? Is there anything you can do? The answer - YES!
There is a commercial product called Empower BES Mailbox that sells for $19.95 USD that does this plus adds a few other features that I don't use. I read more about it to find out exactly how it works, though, and it's basically little more than a search tool. Every time you click the icon, it runs a search in your Messages utility to filter out everything but the BES mail. Well, wait a sec... You can search and filter on the BlackBerry? I didn't know that. Can you do it yourself? I played around with my BlackBerry for a bit and it turns out you can - without bugging your BES administrator and for free!!!
- Open up Messages
- Click the Menu key, select Search
- Change “Service” to “Desktop”
- Click the Menu key, select Save
- Give it a title (such as BES Emails)
- Choose a shortcut key to go with Alt for the shortcut (such as “b” for BES)
- Save and presto!
Now, when you go to Messages, press Alt-B (or whatever key you chose) and only the BES messages will be there. If you press the Back button, it will take you to the regular Messages screen with everything jumbled in together, then once more to get back to the main icon screen. Or, you can press the red End key and that will take you right to the main icon screen in one press.
Enjoy!